


How We Say I Love You

by Winters_solstice



Series: Of Mechanical and Flesh Hearts [9]
Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Pretty much domestic stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-10 11:58:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11126574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winters_solstice/pseuds/Winters_solstice
Summary: "I love you" it doesn't always have to be said verbally. Sometimes it's small gestures that say it instead.A bunch of different ways showing how Lexi and Cayde say I love you without saying it.





	How We Say I Love You

Cayde was mid-conversation with a fellow hunter when Lexi strolled into the Hall. She was soaked, her cloak dripping water with each step. The Exo gave her a nod of acknowledgement and finished the conversation he was having. As the hunter walked away Lexi noticed the focused look on Cayde's face.

"Tough day?" She asked sweetly as she stood next to him, gently she placed her hand over his. The Exo hummed.

"Nothing I can't handle. Reports of Fallen acting suspiciously all over the Cosmodrome makes me wonder what they're up to."

"Strange. Well I'm sure your hunters will help you get to the bottom of it. You can always send me into the field to do some reconnaissance."

"Maybe. Speaking of you, how come you're so wet?" Cayde raised his brow, giving the young woman a once-over.

"Well I thought you could use a break so." Lexi drew out the 'o' as she placed a bag onto the table. She pulled the sides of the bag down revealing several containers of food. Cayde reached for the bowl container and opened it up, relishing in the smell of his favourite ramen.

"This," Cayde pointed with both hands down to the bowl "Is exactly what I needed!"

Lexi noticed how the Exo's optics were brighter than normal. Cayde tilted his head towards Lexi, a bright smile on his face.

"Enjoy your lunch, and I'll see you later!" Lexi pressed a kiss on the Exo's cheek. She laughed as Cayde was too engrossed in finding utensils to eat the ramen. As she walked away she overheard Ikora chastising Cayde for spilling something on the map, the Exo replied in a garble of unintelligible words as he ate.

 

~

 

Lexi was huddled in a pile of blankets on Cayde's couch watching a show on the terminal. The lights were turned low and the quarters were warmer than usual. Lexi groaned in pain and curled up tighter. The young woman leaned over and grabbed the herbal tea as another wave of nausea came over her. Her adopted Ghost nudged her arm, wanting to comfort her companion but not being entirely sure how.

"Perhaps a warm shower or bath would help?" Her Ghost said. Lexi shook her head.

"I don't want to move from the couch." Lexi explained. The sound of the door to Cayde's quarters opening caught Lexi's attention but her gaze stayed on the terminal. She noticed her Ghost float over to whoever came in and greeted them. Lexi felt gloved fingers run through her extremely short hair, it had grown back a little since she'd shaved it completely.

"Hi." Lexi spoke quietly, exhaustion and pain evident in her voice.

"Hello you." Cayde replied. Lexi heard Cayde's footsteps head away from her and return a minute later. The Exo sat beside her and placed a tub of ice cream along with a spoon in her hands.

"Oooh thank you!" Lexi gave a smile.

"Knew you'd be needing it."

"Knew?"

"I'm not just a pretty face." Cayde teased. Lexi snickered. The young woman started to dig into the ice cream, humming softly as the pain she was in seemed to dissipate. Lexi shifted to sit closer to Cayde, the Exo noticed the flash of discomfort cross Lexi's face.

"Back?" Cayde asked, a slight tilt to his head. Lexi merely nodded, the spoon in her mouth.

"C'mere." Cayde moved positions on the sofa and gestured for her to sit between his legs. After she'd moved, Cayde gently pressed his fingers into the base of her back. Lexi grumbled and hissed while Cayde kneaded the muscles. Slowly the aching disappeared and Lexi sighed happily. Eventually she leaned back into his arms, allowing them to wrap around her front and gently rub her abdomen.

"Thanks." Lexi said wearily, her eyes on the terminal.

"You'd do the same for me."

Lexi glanced back at the Exo, an amused look on her face.

"If your body ever tries to fuck you up for not getting pregnant I'll pamper you like a queen."

"Awww thanks!" Cayde laughed. Lexi settled back once again and laid her head on Cayde's shoulder. Cayde pressed a quick kiss to her temple and let his optics go over to the terminal.

 

~

 

Lexi grinned at the loot in front of her that she'd spread across the floor of Cayde's quarters. Her Ghost scanned each item.

"Which ones do you think?" Lexi asked it. The Ghost floated over several notable pieces.

"Definitely these! Ooh and this!" The Ghost enthused. Lexi grabbed each item and placed them in random spots in the rooms of Cayde's quarters, some high, some low, some inside closets and drawers. She then grabbed a reel of red string and tied it to each piece of loot, creating a maze of string around his quarters. After she'd finished she clapped her hands happily.

"Done!"

"Now we wait!" The Ghost spoke happily. Lexi was sat on Cayde's bed reading a book when the Exo returned from Vanguard duties. He stopped in his footsteps, his optics narrowing in confusion as they looked over the red string crisscrossing his quarters.

"What?" The Exo sounded both confused and excited.

"You know that old pre-Golden Age film 'The Wizard of Oz', well you know that 'follow the yellow brick road' thing, imagine that but follow the reel of red string." Lexi smiled widely at Cayde. The Exo placed his hands on his waist and nodded appreciatively around the room, he seemed to bounce on his feet before almost running off to the closest piece of red string. Lexi watched happily as her lover rushed giddily around his quarters following the string. She burst out laughing each time he found the piece of loot she had somewhat hidden. The Exo would gaze at the item, flip it around in his hands, nod then smile brightly at it. Eventually he followed the string into his bathroom. She was suddenly alone in the main part of his quarters as her Ghost followed the Exo and his Ghost into the bathroom.

"Cayde?" Lexi called. Abruptly the two Ghosts floated out of the bathroom, holding up the string between them. Lexi giggled as they wrapped it around her several times then dropped it. Cayde then appeared from the bathroom, following the string slowly until he reached Lexi.

"I think I've found my favourite loot!" The Exo grinned as he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly.

"Cayde!" Lexi cried out inbetween laughs.

"You've had one hell of a successful patrol!" Cayde patted her back as he reclined on his bed.

"Yup! For what was meant to be a quiet and gentle reintroduction to the wilds, there were plenty of Fallen Walkers and extraction teams going around."

"Thank you." Cayde said sincerely.

"There's still one more." Lexi smiled and pulled out a dagger and sheath that she'd hidden behind the pillow. She laid it in Cayde's hand and let him expect it.

"I know you said that you were going to need a new one soon. I found this today, Arux tells me it's quite rare, and it's more your style than mine. So I thought you'd like it."

Cayde flipped the dagger in his hands a few times and smiled brightly.

"I love it!" The Exo enthused.

"Fancy cutting me out of this string?" Lexi smiled sheepishly.

 

~

 

Cayde had returned from his duties extremely late. Zavala had called a meeting and unfortunately Cayde had been unable to sneak away. He quickly made his way to his quarters hoping Lexi might still be awake. He hadn't seen her all day, she'd been on a mission all night and the majority of the day. Willow, Lexi's teammate, had told Cayde that she'd gone straight to his quarters, she commended her friend for her efforts during their mission. Cayde gathered that she'd thoroughly exhausted herself doing more than usual. She was still freshly back in the field and despite his silent worrying, she always came back in one piece. As the Exo stepped into his quarters he spotted Lexi curled up in one of the bean bags he had in the corner of the room. The light of the terminal playing a movie flickered over her body.

"She tried to stay awake." Lexi's Ghost told Cayde as it floated nearby. The Exo tried lifting her from her position but when she stirred and grumbled he decided to let her sleep where she was. Cayde grabbed the blanket at the bottom of his bed and carefully wrapped it around the young woman's body. He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead and decided to go to bed. When his systems booted up the next morning he found Lexi asleep, but rather on the beanbag, the woman was laid by his side on the bed, the blanket wrapped around her and partially around him. The Exo ran his fingers through her hair. That was enough to rouse her.

"Mornin'" Lexi yawned.

"Sleeping beauty." Cayde teased.

"Thank you for this." Lexi wiggled the blanket in her hands.

"Didn't want you getting a cold. Again."

 

~

 

The comms buzzed to life in the Hall, this brought Cayde out of his bored stupor.

"Its for you." His Ghost announced. Cayde answered the call, ignoring Zavala's annoyed look.

"Oh God! Oh no! It hurts so much! Cayde please come quickly!" Lexi's voice held pain.

"Be right there!" Cayde ended the transmission and left the Hall, much to the annoyance of Zavala. When Cayde rushed into his quarters he saw Lexi laid across his couch, her foot on top of the armrest with an ice pack on her toes.

"Hey." Lexi smiled.

"Okay. What's going on?" Cayde asked.

"Well I was cleaning and I slammed my toes into the coffee table. Felt like I was dying. And honestly? Gave me a great idea of how to get you out of that meeting." Lexi grinned.

"You are a miracle." Cayde laughed, he patted Lexi's raised foot.

"Ouch! It does hurt you know!" Lexi kicked the Exo with her other foot.

"So now what? Zavala will know somethings going on."

"Wanna get out of here. I had Amanda ready your jumpship."

"Once again. You're a miracle." Cayde grinned, he pressed a kiss to her temple and picked her up from the couch. Quietly the two sneaked into the hangar and climbed aboard Cayde's ship. Soon they were off spending the rest of the day stargazing, just out of Earth's orbit. Well until Zavala eventually got wind of it and ordered them back.

 

~

 

Lexi returned to Cayde's quarters one day to find him reorganizing his belongings.

"Hey Cayde." Lexi greeted before dropping herself onto his couch. She'd had a long day and just fancied having a night in with Cayde. She watched the Exo for a while trying to guess what he was so engrossed in doing. Eventually the Exo stood and walked over to Lexi, he grasped her hand and pulled her up off the couch. He guided her over towards where her belongings were kept in a large duffel bag and took a handful of them out before placing them in Lexi's arms. Cayde them guided her towards his wardrobe and opened it up.

"Tahdah!" The Exo spoke happily. Lexi took note of how each section of his wardrobe had an empty space.

"I don't..." Lexi tilted her head. Cayde took the clothes he'd placed in her hands and put them carefully on the empty shelf in his wardrobe.

"I thought it was time we started sharing space." Cayde looked at Lexi, trying to gauge her reaction. He was happy to see her eyes brighten.

"If you want. You don't need to find a new place now." Cayde offered.

"Are you sure? You don't think it's moving too fast?" Lexi asked. The Exo shook his head.

"There," The Exo nodded towards an empty shelf on the wall "Is for your books and stuff."

"Thank you Cayde. It's means a lot!" Lexi smiled happily, her eyes shining. She slowly began to move her belongings from the bag and store them in Cayde's quarters. The Exo tried to help but eventually gave up when he only made things harder.

 

~

 

Despite it only being tiny and barely used since Cayde generally ate takeout, the kitchen area of the hunter Vanguard's quarters was just enough for the inhabitants to attempt to cook a meal. Lexi thought it might be fun, to spend time together this way, and to see whether Cayde still had a functioning kitchen after all the shenanigans he'd got up to in it over the years. While Cayde was meant to be cutting vegetables, he instead got distracted by performing tricks with the knife. He argued it was to see whether his skills were still intact.

"Hey can you finish cutting them and put them in the pot?" Lexi asked sweetly, placing her hand on Cayde's arm to distract him from his actions. The Exo nodded and did as he was asked, Lexi noticed how he cut and did tricks at the same time. She laughed. Eventually Lexi and Cayde managed to make a pot of soup and sat at the dining table while their main was cooking.

"Tastes great!" Cayde enthused.

"Y'know what, we've proven to Ikora that hunters can cook!" Lexi smiled.

"Pretty sure Ikora was saying I couldn't cook, I think the rest of the hunters are safe." Cayde replied.

"Fine then, we've proven you can cook. With a little help. But still you can cook!"

The two settled into easy conversation, telling each other about their day, laughing at stories and making jokes. Once their main course was over, at the behest of Cayde they'd made hunters chicken, the Exo seemed especially excited for dessert. Lexi had instructed Cayde on making dessert as he wanted to try and do it on his own. He'd made a set of four small desserts that were chilling in the small fridge. It wasn't that he'd managed to make more than one dessert without screwing it up that got him excited, it was the moulds that Lexi had given Cayde to use. As Lexi removed the plates from the fridge, Cayde was eagerly trying to look over her shoulder to see if they had held their shape.

"Cayde you're acting like a kid on Christmas will you please sit down!" Lexi laughed. The Exo begrudgingly sat at the table and waited for Lexi to place the plate down in front of him. His optics seemed to light up when she did.

"This. Is a piece of art. Ikora should be jealous!" Cayde smiled proudly. Lexi looked down at the desserts, each was in the shape of a playing card suit.

"She should be! They look amazing!" Lexi enthused. Taking a small spoon she scooped up a bit of the heart shaped cake and put it in her mouth. She noticed Cayde watching her in anticipation. Lexi hummed in pleasure.

"Gorgeous! Well done!" Lexi's voice was garbled as she ate the cake.

"I think we should cook more often! How long do you think it'll be until I can challenge Zavala and Ikora?"

"Vanguard cook off!" Lexi burst out laughing before continuing "I would pay a good amount of Glimmer to see that!"

The Exo grinned inbetween spoonfuls of dessert.

 

~

 

Lexi let out a pained sound as she started to pull off her armour. When her armour caught on something in her leg she hissed.

"Yikes. You look awful." Cayde said bluntly as he wandered out of the bathroom.

"Thanks Cayde." Lexi muttered. She carefully sat on Cayde's bed and her fingers felt where her armour had snagged.

"For God's sake!" Lexi complained. Her fingers grasped the piece of metal embedded in her leg and yanked. Lexi cursed loudly. Cayde helped Lexi remove the rest of her armour. The young woman stepped into the bathroom and started to clean the blood from her wounds.

"Sit." Cayde spoke from the door. Lexi turned to see him waving the first aid box in front of him. She sighed happily. Doing as Cayde told her she sat on the edge of the bath tub. The Exo opened the box and set about cleaning her wounds properly. The wounds that were deep the Vanguard sewed up expertly, he then felt around the socket of her blackened left eye making sure nothing was broken. Lexi cupped the Exo's face lovingly. Eventually the young woman rested her head forward onto Cayde's shoulder and blew out some air.

"Can we go to bed?" She asked quietly as Cayde finished off fixing her up.

"Its early." Cayde replied.

"We can see what shows we can watch. I just ache everywhere. That bed over there is calling me." Lexi explained.

"C'mon then." Exo lifted Lexi up and carried her to his bed. He helped her pull on some sweats and held her as she flicked through what they could watch. The Exo gently massaged the muscles he could reach and smiled as his lover hummed and groaned in satisfaction.

"Thank you." Lexi's voice was just above a whisper but she knew Cayde had heard her.

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this.
> 
> I'm struggling with a bit of writers block and not entirely sure what to write next so I apologise in advance if it's a while until you hear from me next.
> 
> Love you all!


End file.
